not here. >> you know, radio city is such a big theater. we're so far away that we have to make things bigger to see them better from far away. >> reporter: cirque du soleil reconcedes the traditional circus, made it wildly flamboyant, added state-of-the-art special effects to show case the acrobats and clowns. there are no animals. this formula has sold 100 million tickets since cirque was founded in 1984. revenue this year is expected to be a billion dollars. the only time the machine, the cash machine, has broken down is when cirque has deviated from its recipe for success. its last new york production, banana-spiel was vaguely vaudeville. it was heavy on clowns and story. and it was a flop. >> i'm not afraid of failure, no. i'm already a winner. i'm 51 years old. look what i have behind me. >> reporter: cirque du soleil's founder french-canadian starteded out a street performer. but he knew how to breathe fire. literally and figuratively. and now he's a billionaire. >> taking a risk has always been part of, first, my dna. and cirque dna